At the end of episode 2, we saw Leonard Patz looking forlorn at a table in a cafe, as he slowly deleted photos of the murdered teenager Ben – something which he did with a pained look on his face as his eyes eerily lingered over the images before they were deleted. The screenplay has also added him as a suspect into the minds of the viewers, he must have done it, right?
***You can read our full series review of Defending Jacob here***
Joanna Klein (Cherry Jones) has been drafted in by Andy to be Jacob’s attorney ready for his bail hearing and the beautiful musical accompaniment draws in the emotions as the two suffering parents have scrutinising eyes upon them in the courtroom. The violins in the piece are as melancholy as the moment for Jacob’s family and of course for that of Ben’s family who are suffering at the loss of their son.
The media are stalking their very move from the courthouse to their own house, they’re receiving threatening phone calls and his arrest has made all the major news channels and online media outlets.
That’s a lot for Laurie to contend with and the pressure has grown even more heavily after Andy shared the secret that he has been shielding her from for years about his father. He revealed that he does know where he is and he’s actually in prison in Connecticut – for murder. He was convicted for stabbing a young woman to death… no wonder Andy hates knives and threw Jacob’s away at the first opportunity. Knowing it would come out, he had to confess his hiding of the story to his son and his attorney, Joanna.
Michelle Dockery is so convincing as the bewildered and scared mother of Jacob and the way that she carries herself as Laurie is so telling. Dockery makes the stress for the mother so clear in her body language, as her shoulders are lowering, there’s stress in her eyes and the crack in her voice as she speaks is evident whilst trying to share her concerns about her son. Dockery makes the audience feel empathy towards her and the awful situation her family has found themselves in. She worries that a genetic disposition might be thrown up in court where prosecutors could argue that Jacob has a ‘murder gene’ inherited from his grandfather.
Hoping to prove Jacob’s innocence, Andy asks Detective Duff for Leonard Patz’s file, which she refuses as his excuse of being a friend doesn’t really cut it, claiming she’s never even been in his house prior to entering with a warrant. (Eventually, she concedes and posts the documents to him).
Laurie is dealt yet another blow after being informed she’s no longer allowed to work in the school because of the situation and the pressure is piling up for the duo who previously lived a privileged, untroubled family life. Upon arriving home, she sees someone has trespassed onto their property and spray painted ‘murderer’ all over their garage door.
Meanwhile, Jacob is oblivious to how this is affecting his parents and spends his days locked in his room playing video games (which are violent in context).
Director Morten Tyldum uses flashbacks to show you what is happening in the mind of Laurie, as she remembers a time when Jacob was frustrated as a child at a bowling alley and almost smashes a bowling ball over another child’s head. This technique is showing the audience that she is starting to have concerns about Jacob and his temper. Is she thinking he may be guilty?
Her thoughts are clear at a meeting with a therapist to assess whether or not he has the murder gene. She recalls he was a ‘difficult’ child who would throw things at his parents, he was ‘too rough’ with other children and one child needed stitches.
The final five minutes of the episode are spent as teasers, setting up the suspense perfectly for the next instalment. There’s a brief glimpse of Leonard Patz eating and watching another male teenager in the distance, it then jumps to Jacob’s friend Sarah (Jordan Alexa Davis) pulling out Detective Duffy’s card about Ben’s murder. It seems she knows more about what may have happened than she has been letting on and finally, the deterioration of Laurie’s mental state. She is manically painting over the sprayed words on the garage. Could this be a metaphorical image of her trying to cover up the word ‘murderer’ in her own mind when she’s thinking about Jacob?
Overall, the third episode was a slow-burning one as it sets up the scenarios yet to follow with regards to Leonard Patz and his continuous stalking of teenage boys, Laurie’s difficulties coping with the situation and of course Sarah’s potential information she has been keeping to herself. The performances of the two characters, Laurie and Andy, have been brilliantly portrayed as the two actors are so expressive in their delivery, showing the strains of what is happening to their characters. Apple TV+ subscribers now have to wait a week until episode four arrives on the streaming service on Friday May 1st. It was a smart move from Apple to release all three episodes at once as now the viewers will most likely be heavily invested in the show and will count down the days until the next one drops. The unanswered questions will draw the viewers back and those who love a good old ‘whodunnit’ series, will be intrigued by this show.
Have you watched the third episode of DEFENDING JACOB? What do you think of the show so far? As always, we like to know what you think, so let us know your thoughts below, tweet us @filmandtvnow or leave a comment on our Facebook page.
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